by TChris

Despite the testy letter that Sen. Arlen Specter wrote to Vice President Cheney, and despite this article's description of Specter as a "subpoena-wielding member of Congress who is ready to force a showdown over what he sees as the Bush administration's intrusion into legislative territory," Specter has reportedly "modified his stance" on the administration's warrantless spying on Americans by proposing "legislation that would give President Bush the option of seeking a warrant from a special court for an electronic surveillance program such as the one being conducted by the National Security Agency."

Complying with FISA would be an "option"? How often would this lawless administration choose that option? The administration doesn't feel bound by FISA now, given the president's belief that he has the inherent, king-like authority to decide which laws apply to the executive branch and which can be ignored.

Specter said "he just wanted to move the bill forward so it can be amended later to insert more safeguards." The current law -- FISA -- has plenty of safeguards. What's the point of introducing bad legislation to replace good legislation that the president feels free to disregard?

by TChris

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will play two lawyers in a movie that dramatizes the wrongful conviction and eventual exoneration of John Thompson. The case may convince viewers, as it did this Philadelphia columnist, that the risk of wrongful conviction is too great to justify death as a penalty.

If you're on the fence about capital punishment, as I have been - vacillating between horror at the growing number of death-row inmates who turn out to be innocent, and rage at the brutal killers responsible for the daily carnage in our streets - this case may settle the issue for you. It did for me.

The case against Thompson seemed clear. He was found with the victim's ring and the murder weapon, making it easy for the police, prosecutors, and the jury to jump to the conclusion that Thompson was the killer.

by TChris

North Carolina District Attorney Michael Parker will ask a special prosecutor to decide whether two former prosecutors should be charged with obstruction of justice or subornation of perjury. As TalkLeft reported here and here, the North Carolina Bar concluded that the former prosecutors withheld evidence and encouraged a witness to commit perjury during the murder trial of Jonathan Hoffman. Parker was urged to hand the investigation to a neutral party given his relationship with the former prosecutors, one of whom is now a judge.

Lots of people e-mailed me about Orlando federal judge Gregory Presnell's written order to two bickering civil lawyers that they resolve where to take a disposition by meeting at the courthouse and playing a game of "rock, paper, scissors."

Fed up with the inability of two lawyers to agree on a trivial issue in an insurance lawsuit, a federal judge in Florida this week ordered them to "convene at a neutral site" and "engage in one (1) game of 'rock, paper, scissors' " to settle the matter.

Childish lawyers are commonplace, but the use of children's games to resolve litigation disputes is apparently a new development. The judge, Gregory A. Presnell of Federal District Court in Orlando, wrote that his innovation was "a new form of alternative dispute resolution."

Judge Presnell is no kook. I included a lengthy section of an opinion he wrote in March in a brief I filed last week. In the opinion, he decries the disparate sentencing guidelines for crack vs. powder cocaine.

Other commitments and time constraints prevented TalkLeft from attending Yearly Kos. I'd be there if I could.

Also not there: Crooks and Liars and Sideshow. We'll all be blogging through the weekend.

Meanwhile, for those who need their Daily Kos fix, check out C-Span and Air Amercia Radio who are broadcasting live.

And check out "Misson Accomplished Man," Will Keenan's new video promo for Yearly Kos..

Also, while I'm on videos, don't forget G.A.G., a gangsta rap for the Bush Administration.

TalkLeft commenters have been on top of the new defense filing for hours, but I'm just getting to it. Check it out, the defense tells the court Dancer #2 said the accuser's allegations were "a crock," there was no physical evidence of rape, the rape examiner was a trainee who only found signs of edema and did not attirbute it to a cause, and the accuser's father says the accuser is under the care of a shrink and in no condition to testify.

Murray Waas has a new article on PlameGate with the inside scoop on why Ashcroft recused himself in the Valerie Plame leaks investigation.

Shorter version: The FBI had evidence Libby lied about where he first heard about Plame (his handwritten notes showing it was Cheney who told him) and suspected Karl Rove and Bob Novak made up a cover story as early as October, 2003. It's a great read.

What's taking so long for the investigation to conclude? I wonder whether Fitz still isn't looking for evidence (or a confirming witness) to show Cheney's involvement was not limited to instructing others to attack Wilson's statements on uranium, WMD's and Iraq but that he also instructed aides to attack Wilson personally and tell reporters his wife worked for the CIA and the trip was nepotism.

Update: Larisa at Raw Story has more details. David Corn weighs in on Bush and Zarqawi.

*******
Original Post:

The U.S. military has confirmed that it killed Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi in a military air strike.

Gen. George Casey, the US top commander in Iraq, said the hunt for the leader of Iraq's insurgents began two weeks ago and his body was identified through ....fingerprints, facial recognition as well as scars and tattoos.

US military spokesman Maj. Gen. William Caldwell showed a picture of al-Zarqawi's face after the air strike with his eyes closed and blood spots under him. He said a DNA test had been carried out on his body the results of which would be released in 48 hours.

The U.S. says al-Zarqawi's "spiritual advisor" led them to him. Here is video of the air strike and video of the Iraqi Prime Minister's announcement with comments by Rumsfeld and Tony Blair.

by TChris

Conservative lunacy month in the Senate is off to a poor start. Republicans couldn't muster even a bare majority to support a constitutional amendment to prohibit gay marriage. Turning their attention from their ultra-whacky base to their ultra-wealthy base, Republicans tried again -- despite an expensive war and rising deficits -- to repeal the estate tax. When it became apparent that the effort would fail, some senators tried to negotiate a compromise that would have exempted more estates from a tax that already affects fewer than 2 percent of all estates. Only 57 senators voted to cut off debate, three votes short of the number needed to move the legislation forward.

"Repealing the estate tax during this time of fiscal crisis would be incredibly irresponsible and intellectually dishonest," [Sen. George] Voinovich said.

Next up in conservative lunacy month: the flag burning amendment. This NY Times editorial worries that this one might actually have a chance of passing, thanks in part to Democratic senators who are willing to sell out the Constitution to pander to people who believe a symbol of freedom is more important than actual freedom.

The Vera Institute has completed a bipartisan report on our prison system for Congress. 13.5 million people are jailed each year. On any particular day, more than 2.2 million people are locked behind bars. The cost for all this is a staggering $60 billion per year. Not only are our prisons failing them, so is the American public. And while violent crime has dropped, we are not any safer.

"We should be astonished by the size of the prisoner population, troubled by the disproportionate incarceration of African-Americans and Latinos, and saddened by the waste of human potential," the panel said in a report to be presented to Congress on Thursday.

by TChris

Shortly after being reelected in 2004, Arlen Specter earned the wrath of conservative extremists by suggesting that anti-abortion judges would have difficulty winning Senate confirmation. Specter learned the power of conservative outrage when his chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee was threatened. Specter executed a quick flip-flop by assuring extremists that he "would never apply any litmus test on the abortion issue."

A year-and-a-half later, the inability of conservative extremists to govern has been exposed, and their death grip on Specter has weakened. While Specter has shown little inclination to oppose any of the president's judicial nominees, he's recently been slapping the Bush administration, apparently content in the knowledge that the president and his supporters are too weak to hit back with any force.

Yesterday, the Justice Department sent Matthew Friedrich to stonewall the Judiciary Committee's interest in Alberto Gonzales' assertion that journalists can be prosecuted for divulging classified information. Specter put up a fuss when Friedrich dodged his questions.

How about an open thread today? Haven't had one in a while and there's lots to talk about.